Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Contact: Stan Cole

No.-12 North Carolina State Tops Campbell 2-0

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Santiago Fusilier broke a scoreless tie in the 73rd minute and Aaron King added an 84th minute goal to lift North Carolina State to a 2-0 men's soccer victory over Campbell on Wednesday night.

The Wolfpack (11-5-1), ranked 12th in the nation by Soccer America and 18th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, handed Campbell (11-5-1) its first home loss in six weeks.

Jorge Gonzalez notched his fourth shutout of the season in goal for State on the strength of six saves, plus goal-saving clearances by Ronnie Bouemboue and Rami Ghanayem. Campbell, which entered the week ranked 10th nationally in scoring, was shut out for the first time at home and only the third time overall this year.

The Wolfpack saw two early chances slip by in the seventh minute when Bryant Salter's attempt was blocked and John Queeley's shot deflected wide.

In the 19th minute, Ghanayem's low hard free kick from just outside the box was stopped, then covered by Camel freshman keeper Aaron Johnson. The Wolfpack, however, did not have a shot over the final 25 minutes of the opening period.

Looking for its third victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this year, Campbell nearly broke in front in the 33rd minute when Willy Guadarrama's shot toward an empty net was cleared by Bouemboue's diving header.

In the 51st minute, Ghanayem cleared Scott Phillips' header at the right post.

The eventual winner came after 72 minutes when John Queeley sent a cross into the box that Campbell cleared to the top of the area. Fusilier, however, struck a right-footed half volley into the right side of the goal for his first strike of the year.

State's insurance goal came on an 83rd minute counterattack. Bouemboue slipped the ball through to King on the break and the senior from Denver, Colo., lofted a shot that Johnson was able to get a hand on, but unable to keep out of the net.

The goal was the 15th of the year for King, who entered the contest as the nation's eighth-leading scorer.

Campbell finished the match with a 16-9 edge in shots, including an 8-5 advantage in shots on target. Willy Guadarrama, who entered the match as the national scoring leader and his younger brother Sonny, the top freshman scorer in the country, combined for nine shots, three on goal.

The Fighting Camels host Florida Atlantic on Saturday in their regular season finale. Campbell could clinch the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title with a win or draw against the Owls. [Box Score]

North Carolina State 2, Campbell 0

Scoring:

NCSU (72:37) Santiago Fusilier (unassisted)

NCSU (83:17) Aaron King (Ronnie Bouemboue)

Shots: NCSU 9, Campbell 16

Corner Kicks: NCSU 5, Campbell 9

Keeper Saves: NCSU (Jorge Gonzalez) 6, Campbell (Aaron Johnson) 2

Team Saves: NCSU 2, Campbell 1

Fouls: NCSU 12, Campbell 18

Yellow Cards: NCSU - El Hadj Cisse (47:36); Campbell - David Comito (18:51), Julian Fulton (40:01)

Records: NCSU 11-5-1, Campbell 11-5-1